WEBVTT - Kaitlyn Joshua: How a Miscarriage Fueled a Movement 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.520 Welcome back to She Pivots. I'm Caitlyn Joshua. 0:00:13.000 --> 0:00:16.520 Welcome back to She Pivots, the podcast where we talk 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:19.160 with women who dare to pivot out of one career 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:23.800 and into something new and explore how their personal lives 0:00:23.880 --> 0:00:31.560 impacts these decisions. I'm your host, Emily Tish Sussman. We 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:34.640 often talk on she Pivots about how life rarely follows 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:37.280 a straight line, and sometimes it's not just a pivot, 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:41.120 it's a reckoning, a moment that splits your life into 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:45.600 a before and an after. For Caitlyn Joshua, that moment 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:49.360 came in an emergency room in Louisiana where, despite suffering 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:53.880 a miscarriage, she was turned away not once twice. This 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:56.480 is the horrifying reality millions of women have to deal 0:00:56.560 --> 0:00:59.880 with in America today. And three years after Roeph Wade 0:00:59.920 --> 0:01:03.080 was overturned, as more and more stories are coming out 0:01:03.160 --> 0:01:06.640 of women suffering because of the restrictive laws and doctors 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:10.560 withholding care because of confusion around these laws, felt important 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:13.759 to share Caitlyn's story. As a woman of faith, Caitlyn 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:16.960 spent her career as a faith organizer, working to build 0:01:17.040 --> 0:01:21.600 community advocate for social justice, and build coalitions. Then, after 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:24.880 the birth of her first daughter in twenty eighteen, Caitlyn 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:26.920 and her husband started to plan to have their next 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:30.679 baby when what she thought was a minor miscarriage turned 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:34.720 into the most physically and mentally painful times of her life. 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:37.200 She was turned away from the emergency room with a 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:41.360 prayer and directions to just take tylanl. Kitlyn will talk 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:44.120 more about her experience in this episode, but just know 0:01:44.200 --> 0:01:46.959 that it took her two months to pass her miscarriage, 0:01:47.000 --> 0:01:51.240 two months without any medical help. Because of her background, 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:53.880 Caitlyn was able to understand that what happened to her 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:56.800 wasn't just a one off. It was a result of 0:01:56.840 --> 0:02:00.720 the recent policy changes to limit reproductive access, and it 0:02:00.800 --> 0:02:04.360 lit a fire that has fueled her ever since. Caitlyn 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:07.560 used her experience as an organizer and hit the ground running, 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:10.960 sharing the most intimate and difficult details of her story 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:14.240 to help change hearts and minds and build public support 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:17.960 for reproductive freedom. Last year alone, Caitlyn was named one 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:21.400 of Glamour's Women of the Year, launched Abortion in America, 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:24.600 an organization that she co created with the late Cecil Richards, 0:02:24.919 --> 0:02:27.760 and went on the road with the Harris Walls presidential campaign, 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:30.840 and throughout it all her work has been rooted in 0:02:30.880 --> 0:02:34.160 her personal story. I want to thank Caitlin for coming 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:38.120 on and sharing her most vulnerable story. As a mother myself, 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:41.240 I know how scary pregnancy can be, and no woman 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:44.480 should have to endure what Caitlyn went through. I hope 0:02:44.480 --> 0:02:46.480 in sharing her story we can start to shift the 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:49.120 narrative and change harmful policies that are in place across 0:02:49.120 --> 0:02:50.840 the country. Let's jump in. 0:02:58.000 --> 0:03:00.760 My name is Caitlin Joshua, and I I am an 0:03:00.840 --> 0:03:04.840 abortion rights advocate in South Louisiana. I also dabble in 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:08.400 environmental justice work, but for the most part, my life 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:11.239 has been abortion rights work since my own lived experience 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:12.240 two and a half years ago. 0:03:12.880 --> 0:03:15.720 We're going to back all the way up. Little Kaitlin, 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:18.480 tell us about your family. What did you think you 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:19.840 wanted to be when you grew up? 0:03:19.880 --> 0:03:22.960 Where are you from? Give us a little Kaitlin. I 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:27.480 am a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Little Caitlin 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:30.720 definitely wanted to be a medical doctor. Physician. That was 0:03:30.720 --> 0:03:32.799 my dream and I always said it out loud, and 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:35.120 I always joke and say I might actually still go 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:38.840 do that. My parents. Actually, I love telling this story. 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:41.840 So I grew up where both of my grandparents on 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:44.600 both sides lived on the same street, so you would. 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:47.280 And to be clear, I'm thirty two years old and 0:03:47.520 --> 0:03:49.880 my parents are from Baton Rouge Episodically this part of 0:03:49.920 --> 0:03:52.400 Baton Rouge called Scotlandville, which is North Baton Rouge's a 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:55.560 pretty predominantly black part of town. They grew up on 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:57.920 the same street and literally that's how they met when 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:00.760 they were thirteen years old and went to schooled together, 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:03.600 college together, and then had us And I say us, 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:05.760 I have a twin sister. She her name was Angel. 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:09.120 She's a medical doctor in New Orleans. But we were 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:11.680 born in nineteen ninety two, and so my parents left, 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.760 you know, kind of decided to settle in Southeast battle 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:16.480 Rouge just because it was at that time it was 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:19.520 kind of booming in terms of economic boom, and school 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:21.560 systems were kind of a hot topic at the time, 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:23.920 as we were kind of the longest I believe, decid 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:26.120 order in the United States, and so it took us 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:28.920 a while to get like that diversity piece within our 0:04:28.920 --> 0:04:31.560 school systems. And so my parents are very intentional about 0:04:31.600 --> 0:04:34.040 raising us in South end Rouge, and they still live 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:36.280 there today and I'm not too too far from them. 0:04:36.360 --> 0:04:40.359 But so essentially family is pretty much like our world, 0:04:40.480 --> 0:04:42.960 right Like we always make the joke that like everybody 0:04:43.120 --> 0:04:46.120 kind of calls Louisiana the big magnet, right like, it's 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:49.080 we know we want to leave because the political landscape sucks, 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:51.840 to be quite honest. But we have family here, our 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:54.559 cultures here in terms of raising our kids in the South. 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:57.680 And I actually met my husband at Southern University, where 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:00.280 I went to college. We also worked together at a 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:03.560 hotel in vat Rouge, and so that was nine years ago. 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:06.080 We worked together and I remember started doing his physics 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:07.800 homework and that's how he fell in love with me. 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:11.240 And soon after that, seven years ago, we got married. 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:14.080 Had my daughter not too long after that, and she's six. 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:16.840 And then fast forward to now where I'm kind of 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:19.599 literally yanking my kids left and right to do the 0:05:19.640 --> 0:05:22.720 work that I do, which is organizing. We had our 0:05:22.760 --> 0:05:24.480 son a year and a half year one point five 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:27.039 years ago, excuse me, and have just been, you know, 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:30.440 enjoying teaching them the importance of this moment. And I 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:33.279 probably referenced that a lot in this podcast, just like 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:36.240 helping my kids understand, you know, what is a rally, 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:38.719 what is a protest? Like helping them stay involved and 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:40.919 seeing their mom and the fight is very important to me. 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:43.120 And what's so interesting and the reason why I said 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:46.760 pro choice always, I guess like, as a young black woman, 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:49.279 you know that considers herself very progressive, Like for me, 0:05:49.360 --> 0:05:52.359 it was a given, and even my very staunchly Christian 0:05:52.440 --> 0:05:55.120 parents have always raised us to be pro choice, like 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:57.919 through the lens of or like helping us understand that 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:01.080 a woman's decision is hers and it's not your business, right, 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:03.520 like very much helping us understand at a very young 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:05.920 age that it is not for us to decide how 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:08.560 someone wants to live their lives or the decisions that 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:10.760 they make with their medical providers are not our own. 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:13.640 And so even though I still consider myself a Christian, 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:17.000 I take my kids to church every single Sunday. I 0:06:17.040 --> 0:06:20.520 also help them understand that reproductive health care is an 0:06:20.560 --> 0:06:24.159 important facet in a woman's life and a family's lives. 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:26.960 And I've always been so grateful for my parents also 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:28.000 setting that tone for us. 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:31.800 So you started on the medical path, you thought you're 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.279 going to be a doctor. And as a young child, 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:37.400 what attracted you to being a doctor? Like, did you 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:40.000 have doctors in your family? And that's also super interesting 0:06:40.000 --> 0:06:42.040 that your twin sister ended up as a doctor. 0:06:42.160 --> 0:06:45.919 Yeah, she had to show me up. Yeah. So I 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:47.920 grew up around a lot of even though I didn't 0:06:47.960 --> 0:06:49.280 have a ton of I had a lot of lawyers 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:53.640 in our family, but we had a couple physicians on 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.080 both my mom's side and my dad's. But for the 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:58.920 most part, I was inspired by a set of tins 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:02.960 actually that were amazing role models in the community in 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:05.760 baund Rouge, black women who went on to have their 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:09.360 own private practice, and I'd followed them for the entirety 0:07:09.440 --> 0:07:13.280 of my childhood and into adolescents, and so I really 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:15.280 aspired to be like them until this day, have a 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:17.880 really good relationship with both of them. With me having 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:20.360 a twin sister, I was like, we should be like them, 0:07:20.800 --> 0:07:23.640 you know. And so I think what was so aspirational 0:07:23.760 --> 0:07:25.840 about the two of them is it was kind of 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:28.280 at a time where Louisiana did not have a ton 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:32.080 of obi guides or just women in healthcare at all, 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:35.760 specifically Black women in healthcare and so it was kind 0:07:35.800 --> 0:07:38.560 of twenty years ago, twenty almost thirty years ago in 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:40.880 which we kind of saw like a real trend or 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:45.120 intentionality behind medical schools supporting different initiatives to be able 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:47.720 to get more women of color in their programs. And 0:07:47.960 --> 0:07:50.720 we got to see that firsthand. And of course now 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:53.560 I'm proud to say there are way more women of 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:56.640 color that are doing their thing, matriculating through medical school 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:59.960 and going on to have private practice and stay in Louisiana, 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:02.800 which is really cool. But at the time, it wasn't 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:05.440 often that you would see women of color in medicine, 0:08:05.440 --> 0:08:07.080 and so for me that was kind of like a 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:09.920 sign that I should be doing something like that. And 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:12.840 I've always had a really big interest in science and 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:16.239 was really good at it, got straight a's, never missed 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:20.120 a science robotics class or meeting, always joined clubs like 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:24.160 I was obsessed with science, still am, which definitely benefits 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:26.520 my sex yerol now that she has science homework. But 0:08:26.920 --> 0:08:30.040 I've always just really wanted to be in that realm, 0:08:30.080 --> 0:08:33.520 in that realm of medicine. Can you talk us through 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:34.480 the change? 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.680 You said you had become disillusioned with medicine and decided 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:38.440 not to do it anymore? 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:41.560 Can you talk us through that? Yeah, to be perfectly honest, 0:08:41.600 --> 0:08:45.000 when I was in Houston and interning at different medical 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:47.800 offices and trying to prep for medical school in the 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:52.560 next fall, I just witnessed like kind of a hierarchical 0:08:52.559 --> 0:08:56.000 structure that I wasn't privy to you before. I never 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.599 spent that much time with a physician day in and 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:02.439 day out, and you know, really got to witness all 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:06.000 the intricacies and complexities of a medical office. And for me, 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:08.199 it was if I could be quite frank like, very 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:10.199 white patriarchal in a lot of ways, and I did. 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:11.960 I was like, Okay, I'm not I can't sign up 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:14.760 for this. I can't do that. And even though you know, 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:18.320 I didn't go on to attend or finish medical school, 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:22.600 and watching my sister navigate those complexities, and just like 0:09:22.640 --> 0:09:26.440 the inherent biases implicit biases within the medical school system, 0:09:27.040 --> 0:09:29.120 I knew that I made the right decision for myself. 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:31.360 And just from the time that I witnessed it in 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:33.320 Houston and then watching my sister like cry all the 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:36.880 time and get upset and frustrated when different kind of 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:40.120 racial undertones would happen. Within her medical school and how 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:42.520 she had to combat that on a daily basis. I 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:44.880 knew that it was not good for her mental health. 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:48.360 All in all, she did successfully graduate, which was wonderful, 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:50.440 but I knew that I had made the right decision 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:52.080 for my life not to deal with that. 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:57.240 Still, Caitlin graduated with a Bachelor in Science and headed 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:00.640 to Houston to pursue what she thought was her career. 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:04.400 I graduated, I guess that was spring of twenty sixteen, 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:06.360 and then, oh god, now I'm really showing my age. 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:09.480 But spring of twenty sixteen, and then by this summer, 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:11.520 I'd moved to Houston, and so I just knew I 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.320 would get my life together in Houston and I would 0:10:14.400 --> 0:10:18.440 go on to pursue medicine. And sure enough, I did 0:10:18.520 --> 0:10:20.480 not do that. I stuck it out in Houston for 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:23.560 like six months or seven months. I had my husband 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:26.080 Maui's my fiance at the time, moved me back to 0:10:26.160 --> 0:10:30.600 Louisiana by summer of twenty seventeen, and that is when 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:32.160 I decided to go out on a limb and get 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:34.280 a job at a law firm. Did feel big? 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:36.400 Was it like an identity loss or it just felt 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:37.720 like Okay, let me find the next thing. 0:10:37.760 --> 0:10:40.520 I'm young, I'll try out different stuff. It was definitely 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:44.120 identity loss, like so much that, you know, I'd even 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:46.640 I don't think you'd mind me shared. I'd even told 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:48.400 mys and I was like, I don't think we should 0:10:48.400 --> 0:10:51.720 get married yet, Like I don't have anything together, dude. 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:54.360 Like I just wanted to kind of just do the 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:56.160 things that I didn't get to do in college, which 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:58.920 I lived at home. Don't ever do that, whoever's listening, 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:01.360 don't do that that idea. You save money, but you 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:04.320 don't have freedom. And so I lived with my parents, 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:07.080 and I mean I was I graduated little late twenty three, 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:09.800 almost twenty four, and to be almost twenty four years 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:12.719 old and not have like the full autonomy over your 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:14.880 life or what you want to do, over your schedule, 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:17.640 parents calling you at midnight asking where you are. So 0:11:17.880 --> 0:11:21.280 I wanted to experience life beyond my parents' house. And 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.480 so I took the summer of twenty seventeen and through 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:27.480 twenty eighteen to be able to do that. It definitely 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:31.560 raised some help. My parents were not thrilled that I was, 0:11:31.600 --> 0:11:33.360 you know, seeking another path, and I was like, you're 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:36.320 going to be broke. So she you know, she was 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:38.520 really disappointed that I spent so much of my time 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:41.559 in my life being committed to the cause and committed 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:43.720 to to you know, going to medical school and then 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:46.240 at the very last second deciding that was no longer 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:48.600 the path for me. And she even tried to convince me, 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:51.520 what about nursing or PA, like, you don't have to 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:54.320 like completely sit out of all of it. There surely 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:56.439 has to be a path for you. And my sister 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:58.760 was very supportive though, which was really weird, Like I 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:01.120 thought she'd be the most upset, but it was definitely 0:12:01.120 --> 0:12:04.360 my mom and my dad. It was really hard telling 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:07.800 my dad as he had bragged all of his frat 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:09.880 brothers and family members that he was going to have 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:12.840 medical doctors for you know, his tones were going to 0:12:12.840 --> 0:12:15.760 be medical physicians and we take care of him well 0:12:15.760 --> 0:12:18.840 into his old age and all the things, and so 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:22.080 he was really hurt. And it wasn't until I you know, 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:25.400 kind of showed them that, you know, organizing is a career, 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:28.040 you can do it and have you know, a lucrative 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.160 career and be able to make money and so you know, 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:34.240 keep the lights on that they finally believe that I 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:37.880 can make it something tangible. So what did you say? 0:12:38.120 --> 0:12:40.880 Because I think some people listening also might not even 0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:43.359 know what an organizer is an organizer? 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:46.360 How do I explain an organizer? So, an organizer is 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:49.280 responsible for kind of bridging the gap within the community 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.560 in terms of working on certain issue areas and doing 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:56.000 as it sounds like, organizing around it, mobilizing people to 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:59.360 advocate on a certain issue, move them to you know, 0:12:59.400 --> 0:13:02.280 engage with an I Liked it official or protest or 0:13:02.280 --> 0:13:06.120 a rally. They are responsible for basically making sure there 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:09.400 is impact or change on a specific issue area. And 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:11.920 it is also a job that requires you to work 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:15.600 all the time. So it's a pretty unique position. But 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:18.040 so funny that you asked me that my daughter just 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.280 did an interview for first grade and she asked me, mommy, 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:22.319 what do you do for a living. I was like, 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:24.679 I'm a political organizer and she said, well, what is that? 0:13:24.720 --> 0:13:26.720 What does it do? And had to explain to her 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:29.920 what a political organizer is and the roles and responsibilities. 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:31.839 And I also remember saying like, do I want my 0:13:31.920 --> 0:13:34.320 kid to go to school with this on a paper? 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:37.719 But just in terms of safety, et cetera. But you know, 0:13:37.840 --> 0:13:40.840 in all in essence, I would say organizers are responsible 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:44.120 for civil rights movement, any movement that you can think 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:46.840 of that is working to try and impact change. 0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:51.079 After the Break, Caitlin dives into what influenced her to 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:54.240 become a faith organizer and the challenges she was up 0:13:54.240 --> 0:14:00.200 against finding churches in the South that shared her values. 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:11.000 You spent some of your career as a faith organizer. 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:16.040 So how did the role of faith play in your 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:17.199 family and growing up? 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:21.000 Yeah, so I still kept a great deal of what 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:23.800 I learned growing up, and I've carried a lot of 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:26.640 those traditions to my kids, but also like switched it 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:30.280 up right, so I'll make y'all laugh. My sister married 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:35.320 a Jewish guy and they just finished doing Satyr and Passover, 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:38.200 and so even though my kids are not Jewish at all, like, 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:41.280 it's important for me to teach them that there are 0:14:41.280 --> 0:14:44.320 different faiths and that you can honor respect other people's traditions. 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:46.680 And so, while I do take my kids to church 0:14:46.720 --> 0:14:49.640 every Sunday, my husband does a men's group once a 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:52.480 month at church on Mondays, and then I'll go to 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:56.200 Ladies Night on Wednesday sometimes because for us. It's about 0:14:56.200 --> 0:14:59.200 like filling our cup, especially right now when things beings 0:14:59.280 --> 0:15:03.360 are so quite honestly, and you're just trying to figure 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:04.680 out how to make it through the day. Like I 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:07.480 do look to my faith to being a part of that, 0:15:07.600 --> 0:15:10.400 you know, restoring of hope and restoring of being able 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:13.120 to kind of get through day to day with my kids. 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:15.720 And so, yeah, to answer your question, still very much 0:15:15.760 --> 0:15:19.000 are involved in the church, but I also was very 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:22.120 intentional about where I chose to be involved, as my 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.320 pastor is so progressive and really supports the work that 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:28.360 I do, and like not just like supports it silently, 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:31.280 but shares that with the church on Sunday morning, like 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:33.840 the work that we're doing in the reproductive space through 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:36.840 the lens of black maternal health care, abortion care, whatever 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:38.920 you want to call it. I make sure that the 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:41.440 people that I surround myself with and my kids are 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:44.640 constantly engaging with people that are progressive in a faith. 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:47.560 Have you left churches or changed churches because you didn't 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:49.800 feel aligned. Oh yeah, absolutely, I've. 0:15:49.640 --> 0:15:54.920 Been hurt multiple times unfortunately, and I mean even with 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:56.280 my son being a year and a half now, I 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:58.760 had to be very strategic about where I wanted to 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:00.680 put him for daycare. Most of our daycares in the 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:03.880 state are attached aligned with a church, and so I 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.040 wanted to make sure that I was giving him even 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:08.240 if it's like daycare, it's who's going to be with 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:10.320 every day, what he's going to see. And there have 0:16:10.320 --> 0:16:12.760 been churches that have been very vocal about, you know, 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:15.520 Kamala Harris, you know, when I was on the campaign trail, 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:18.720 being aligned with you know, the devil or not supporting 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:21.920 Christian values. And I've had to turn my back from 0:16:22.000 --> 0:16:24.240 those churches or make sure that my kids are not 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:27.360 involved with folks that attend there, or just be thinking 0:16:27.360 --> 0:16:29.000 of over the years when I was in college, like 0:16:29.040 --> 0:16:31.440 trying out different churches, trying to figure out where I belonged. 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:35.840 You know, if there was a message around anti LGBTQ rights, 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:37.400 I would make sure that I was not back on 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:39.880 that Sunday right the next Sunday. And so I've had 0:16:39.920 --> 0:16:43.040 to walk away from quite a few congregations, which I'm 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:45.160 grateful for in a way because it led me to 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:46.560 the church that I've been at for the last five 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:47.240 six years. 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:51.440 As Caitlyn figured out her path as a faith organizer, 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:54.840 she wasn't alone. She had her husband, Landon, who she 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:55.640 met in college. 0:16:56.720 --> 0:16:59.080 I met Liandon at the Renaissance Hotel. We were both 0:16:59.120 --> 0:17:02.600 working there ine and one day he asked me to 0:17:02.640 --> 0:17:05.240 help him with his physics homework and I was like, sure, 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:07.160 I'll help you with the homework, and I ended up 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:11.240 doing it. But we were kind of weird because for 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:14.320 years we were dating other people, and like we would 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:17.320 travel together in a friend group and like hang out 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.600 in all these different countries, but never, like one day 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:22.040 we were just kind of like, why aren't we together? 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:25.280 And it wasn't working out with other people, And so 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.199 Blannon finally asked me out at his grandma's house, like 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:31.600 eight years ago and we've been together ever since, and 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:34.800 so literally a year to date after that, he asked 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:37.880 me to marry him. Here after that, we had our daughter. Wait, 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.160 we need to pause a second. Here, a grandma's house 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:42.520 is not traditionally the most romantic. Oh my god, it's not. 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:47.399 It's not. And what's so sad? Is? And yes, Slata 0:17:47.400 --> 0:17:49.240 and I'm putting you on blast. Not only did he 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:51.560 ask me out at my grandma's house, at his grandma's house, 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:54.600 excuse me? Love her? Like love her so much, but 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:57.200 he asked me to marry him in the parking lot 0:17:57.200 --> 0:17:59.520 of my parents' house. So I was like, really, dude, 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.200 like you can switch it up. Okay, we need both 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:05.399 stories we need can we please start with you Grandma? 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:08.280 So after he I'll never forget it was a Sunday 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:10.360 because it was a Saints game and we're New Orleans 0:18:10.400 --> 0:18:13.240 Saints fans. We think we're still New Orleans Saints fans 0:18:13.240 --> 0:18:15.320 and at the time we were going to a game 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:17.920 and we are. We just come back from the game, 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:20.439 and this was after this dude literally rolled up to 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:22.760 the ATM. He was so nervous about the date, like 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:25.040 he took out he thought he took out cash the ATM. 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:27.879 He left the cash in the ATM. We get all 0:18:27.880 --> 0:18:30.840 the way to the New Orleans Saints game, have no money. 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:33.280 Thank god I had my cards, but I was like, oh, 0:18:33.359 --> 0:18:34.960 capital want and tell them you left the money in 0:18:35.000 --> 0:18:37.520 the ATM. And thank god they reimbursed him because I 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:39.320 guess they saw on camera that he really did roll 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:41.560 up leave money in the ATM. We go to the game. 0:18:41.600 --> 0:18:43.919 It was amazing. Remember we won. Went out to eat 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:46.080 afterwards with a couple of a friend of ours that 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:48.520 are couple and got back to his grandma's house and 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:52.080 he's like, oh, you know, we've been hanging out for years, 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:55.200 and you know now we're both single. We should date, 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:57.639 can you know? Which mean my girlfriend? And I remember 0:18:57.960 --> 0:19:02.600 your grandma's inside them all. He's right there, she's probably 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:05.600 looking at us through the window, and so I remember 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:09.720 telling him yes, and literally it was the most fun 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:12.119 i'd had that year. We just, oh god, we just 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:14.560 had such an easy relationship. And I'll say, to date, 0:19:14.600 --> 0:19:17.359 our relationship is just so easy. Maybe that's weird to 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:19.160 a lot of people because they're like, how do y'all 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:21.520 do it? Like you just and then you pop kids 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:24.600 into the picture. But literally a year later, he asked 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:27.199 me to marry him at my parents' house, and it 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:30.360 was not romantic at all, Like it was pitch black outside. 0:19:30.800 --> 0:19:33.960 I don't even remember seeing him, and I remember him 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.120 like getting on one knee, asked me to marry him. 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:38.840 My parents claim they had no idea inside, but I 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:41.040 know that he had asked them permission. And then we 0:19:41.080 --> 0:19:43.199 go inside, we announce to them that we're engaged, and 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:45.199